‘Shrek The Musical’ Premieres At Arsht Center

MIAMI (CBS4) – He’s green, not very handsome and is making his South Florida premiere on stage with his team. Shrek The Musical brings the hilarious story of everyone’s favorite ogre to life on stage right in Miami.

The musical, based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks film that started it all, features an original score of 19 news songs, big laughs and animated characters who literally come to life on stage.

Shrek The Musical is sure to delight audiences of all ages, CBS4’s Lisa Petrillo reported.

The faraway kingdom is turned upside down when everyone’s favorite ogre– not a handsome prince– shows up to rescue a princess.

But it’s not Fiona who steels the show every night on stage. It’s another femme fatal known as Dragon, and CBS4 had a behind the scenes look Wednesday.

It takes a village, or four puppeteers, to get the 100 pound darling dragon flying high on stage.

“I control the head,” puppeteer Chase Todd said. “I can move the neck. I can change the eye color. This is when she’s in love with donkey and this is when she’s mad. I can open the mouth. I do a lot of lip syncing for her.”

In position two or dragon’s wings, it’s all about timing.

“He’ll swing one way, I’ll swing the other way,” puppeteer Lionel Reneau said. “And really, who does the body… he’ll be swinging in a complete opposite direction. So she’s just intertwining kind of like a snake.”

Position three is the body.

“My job really is to catch the weight in different position and to guide off the guys in front of me and make sure we hit the right marks,” Reneau said.

Last but not least is Sara, the tiny girl behind the tail of the Dragon.

Puppeteers are extra busy on stage. Not only do they have to carry a load, but they also have to lip sync with the singers back stage and play other characters. But when it comes to dragon, they know they have the star.

“It’s just one of those things that brings down the house,” Reneau said. “No one is expecting this huge 100 pound dragon to come flying around the stage, and not only does she just stay here. She goes to the edge. She’s sassy.”